License plate lottery – Today’s lucky number is 45,090,000

The Department of Land Transport’s license plate lottery – and auction of what they laughingly describe as “auspicious” vehicle licence plate numbers – on Saturday produced the highest-ever winning bid at 45.09 million baht (US$1.3 million) for plate number 9 Kor Kor 9999.

On Saturday a total of 64 plates were up for auction and another 237 will be offered today.

The highlight came when bidders fought to secure 9 Kor Kor 9999 with 202 bids made in total.

The bidders included people who attended the live auction in the department’s conference room and those who made phone or online bids.

The final bid of 45.09 million baht was from Titan Capital, an investment firm and shattered the previous record of 28.1 million US$810,000) baht for 8 Kor 8888 set in October 2020.

As if any explanation was needed for such obvious common sense, the Thai word for nine is Kao, which sounds a bit like the Thai word for “walk.” The word “walk” is probably the opposite of what a superstitious person would want on their car… but now you know.

Investment firms are those which use algorithms and expertise to try to understand what is good and bad in the market and price it accordingly. While the purchase of the plate is not exactly an investment in witchcraft –no more than any investment – it is certainly an investment in people who believe in mystical forces, those who think numbers are paranormal phenomena and that the right one can make you rich.

Whether shareholders in Titan Capital – a hilariously small-town name – approve of such use of expensive expert opinion was not disclosed.

There is certainly no shortage of people sufficiently senseless to actually do work – or let their father work – to make money to stick a magic number on their car. So if you ever asked yourself why billionaires need so much money and what they do with it, now you know.

According to media reports, the winning bidder said the firm was intent on securing the plate even though the price was over its budget.

Proceeds from the auction will go to the Road Safety Fund.

The most expensive license plate in the world is California’s MM on sale for US$24.3 million (850 million baht). The sale price includes an NFT – the latest market sleight of hand to turn trash into treasure – on the back of the plate. The highest price paid for a plate was US$9.5 million for plate D5 in Dubai.